The Wrong Side
by Liaska
Summary: In the name of Scanra, an assassin's guild is out to murder those who joined with Kel to kill Blayce. Kel finds herself in a hopeless position with one unlikely suspect. Her friends are in danger so is she. Can Kel save the day? tis decent. 'Subtle' KD
1. One Down

                                                                                               **The Wrong Side**

**Disclaimer.  **This entire story is based on Tamora Pierce's world and her characters.  

**Chapter One.**

It was horrible: bright colours, twirling dresses, chatter, laughter, giggling.  Not to mention the complete lack of Dom.  Keladry of Mindelan sighed.  He was the reason she had come.  This morning, when Jump had woken them up, they had agreed to come and meet here.  _'If only our days weren't so busy_,' she thought wistfully, and looked across the lines of dancing nobles again.  Perhaps someone else would be around?  She spotted Seaver, off on the other side of the banquet tables, and felt glad that she wouldn't have to stand-alone anymore.  She "excuse me'd" and "pardon me'd" her way through.

     "Seaver!" she called.

     He looked up as she stopped before him.  "Kel," he smiled.

     "You look happy.  Who's the parchment from?"

     Seaver grinned and held up the paper in his hand.  "It's just from a Lady I met.  With instructions to read it in private, too."

     Kel smiled slyly, feeling cheerful once more, she said, "It's probably a death threat.  From her family."

     Seaver feigned innocence.  "It was she who kissed me!"

     Kel laughed.  "Be gone!" 

  As Seaver left, a warm breath tickled hair strands into her ear and a familiar voice murmured.  "You remind me so much of Lord Raoul when you speak like that."

     Kel, with her right eyebrow raised, turned.  "I do not see that as a bad thing."  She told Dom.  "You could learn from him." 

  He kissed her cheek.  "I've been looking for you."

     "And I've been looking for you."

     They smiled at each other.  They were touching from shoulder to shoulder down to their hands.  Kel's body was warming at an alarming rate.  She tingled all over.  She couldn't handle it.  "So, Dom, how are you?" she said, breaking the spell. 

  He chuckled.  "Oh please, Kel."  He took a step back.  "Why don't we leave?  I'm sure we've both had enough of this party."

     Kel agreed.  

  On their way out, they ran into members of Dom's squad.  Boisterous conversation sparked up immediately.  At first Kel was somewhat disappointed, and noted Dom's several attempts for them to get free, but before long she was joking and laughing with the men, adding in her stories to theirs' and discussing the latest site under her command: New Hope.

      As time passed the group moved to a more comfortable room with chairs and a table, and the talk continued.  When Kel felt exchanges were beginning to lag, she caught Dom's eye and smiled at the door.  His mouth twitched in amusement.  He nodded and finished things up with his friend.

     Soon they were out the door and back into the main hall.  

  "It must be late."  Kel observed.  "There's no more crowd to push past."

     "There's two lovebirds that obviously wouldn't notice if the walls around them tumbled down," Dom said, looking at Yukimi and Neal, who were leaning against each other and shuffling around the dance floor.

     Kel's heart swelled.  "Now there's a perfect marriage."

     Dom squeezed her hand.

     Kel felt giddy, then she suddenly remembered Seaver, and told Dom about the lady that he might soon be involved with.  Dom beamed.  Kel's stomach was twisting at his smile, and wondered if he had any idea of what he did to her, and if she had this effect on him. 

  They passed a noble lady through the hall's main double doors.   

  "Keladry of Mindelan?" the noble's awed voice breathed.

     Kel and Dom stopped and faced the noble, who curtsied.  They returned the formality.

     "Keladry of Mindelan," the noble repeated in disbelief.  "It is an honour to meet you, my lady.  And Domitan, as well - please don't think I don't know who you are!  Oh!  There I go, forgetting myself as usual.  I am Niss of Riveredge."

     Kel hadn't heard of Riveredge, and chose to hide her ignorance and not embarrass the young lady who so clearly marvelled her.  She opened her mouth to change the subject-

     "I don't believe I've ever heard of Riveredge," Dom said.  

  Kel could have kicked him.

     Niss blushed and ducked her head.  "We are small and new," she explained quietly.  "I'm the first daughter of the house to be presented at court."

     Kel sent Dom a meaningful look.  Dom shrugged.

     Niss lifted her head.  "I see you two are leaving, and I don't wish to keep you."

     "No-" Kel began.

     Niss grinned and shook her head.  "Please, do not worry about me, my lady.  I see some friends.  They have been waiting for me, anyway."  She curtsied again and rushed away.

     Kel looked at Dom.  "Perhaps you could be more subtle next time."

     Dom grinned.  "It was out of my mouth before I realised what I was saying."

     Kel didn't reply; just sighed and leaned her head against Dom.

     Dom planted a kiss on the peak of her head.  "My room?"  He felt her nod and wrapped his closest arm around her. 

  Kel woke up at dawn.  She untangled herself from Dom's sheets and sat on the side of the bed, thinking of the previous night.  She looked at Dom.  Her heart squeezed and she leaned back to touch his bare shoulder.  He grunted and rolled over.  Her lips stretched into the unstoppable smile. 

     "I love you," she whispered, and started to find her clothes.  When she was dressed she reached for a sword in the rack across the wall and began some exercises.  Halfway through a pattern dance she caught Dom staring at her.  

     "It's going to be a wonderful day," he said.  "I can feel it."

     "Me too," Kel replied, and wiped her brow.  

  Suddenly there was an urgent pounding on the door.  Dom tumbled out of bed and wrestled on some pants.

     "Dom!" a man cried from outside.  "Open the-"

     Kel threw open the door.

     "Dom- Kel!  What?"  It was a man from Dom's squad, frowning.  He looked past Kel to his commander.  He understood immediately.  

     "I hope this is important," Dom said, buttoning his shirt.

     "It is...it's Seaver."

     "What's happened?"  Kel frowned.  "What has he done?"

     The man looked at Kel wide-eyed.  "Someone was also sent to fetch you from your room, my lady.  And he hasn't done anything.  I think...I think you'd better just come."

    Kel and Dom followed him at a hasty pace.  A blast of cold air surprised them when they exited Dom's building.  Rows of leafless trees surrounded them.  A grey sky watched from above.  Dying weeds grabbed for them in the wind.

     Kel shut out the bleak view with her high collar.

    The messenger led them into another housing quarter, then straight on to Seaver's room.  There was a minor commotion outside the door: people with white, white faces and others with hands over their mouths were milling around.  Ladies were sobbing.  

  Dread wrapped itself around Kel's mind.  She fought off panic.  Dom pushed through the crowd; she followed.  He stopped dead at the door.  "Dom!"  Kel cried.  He was blocking her view.  

  Dom turned to face her slowly.  He braced her shoulders.  "Kel..." His voice broke and eyes glistened. 

  Kel frowned and pushed past-

     Blood.  Blood on the walls.  Blood on the floor.  Blood on the bed. A body on the bed.  The smell...Kel stood, breathless, staring.  Her eyes narrowed at the body with a nasty cut through its chest.

     "No..." she said, shaking her head.  She stumbled over.  It was Seaver.  Seaver: her fellow knight, her comrade, her friend.  She brushed his cheek.  It felt cold and stiff.  "This is a bad dream," she whispered.  "A bad, bad...dream."

     Dom came and stood by her.

     "How could this be?" she asked him.  "I only talked to him last night.  And now..."  The words caught in her throat.

     Dom had no comforting words to offer her, nothing.  They stood there.  Paralysed. 

     "What's going on?" It was Neal.  In a few breaths he was beside Kel and Dom.  He became as quiet and unmoving as them.  At length he managed to say, "When?"

     Kel looked at Neal helplessly.  Her lips moved but no voice would come out.  She tore away.  It felt so unbelievable.  Kel treaded over to the corner of the room.  Tears blurred her eyes, she blinked and they escaped down her cheeks.  Soon her jaw dripped like a tree after the rain.  _'How did this happen?_' the thought tormented her.  Kel gathered the strength to study the room.  It had been a messy death, but nothing had been knocked over, as far as she could tell.  _'Had there even been a fight?_'  Her eyes roved inevitably back to the bed, where they fell upon something, on the floor, sticking out from behind the bedpost.  With a shock she realised it must be the parchment Seaver had last night.    

_  'It's just from a Lady I met.  With instructions to read it in private, too.'_

  She strode over to it, and picked it up.  

  "What's that?"  Neal croaked.

     "A letter a lady had given Seaver last night.  She had told him to read it in private."  Kel unrolled the parchment, and was struck by the official way it had been written.  She read:

_The bearer of this document has commission to kill the following:_

_ Sir Seaver, Knight of Tortall_

_Under the ruling of the Mother Reaper of the ancient society of Reapers._

The writing was followed by an elaborate, black stamp-

     "Kel," Dom said.  "I think there's something you'd better see..."

     Kel stared in disbelief at the letter.  It felt so surreal-

     "Kel?"

     Kel looked at Dom, and then in the direction his finger was pointing.  Above the door, smeared in blood, were the words:

INVADERS OF SCANRA WILL DIE

     "Looks like our murderer left a little message," Neal said.

     The parchment crunched as Kel clenched her fist.  "This was no petty murderer."  She snarled.  "It was an assassin."

Thank you, dear readers, for reading.  Reviews, constructive criticism, and simple commands to keep writing (or to simply stop writing), are, as always, very welcome in my book.

Cheers

~Liaska. 

**Oh yes: **this is meant to be a mystery.  I hope I am being…mysterious.  


	2. The Letter

**Chapter Two**

Kels' eyes swept the hall, left to right.  Right to left.  Towards the back.  The couches.  The tables- there!  She found a servant she hadn't questioned yet.  She hopped off the table and strode straight over to the girl.

     "Excuse me," Kel said clearly.  "Servant?"  She didn't turn.  Kel tapped her shoulder.

     The girl whipped around, her chin-height dark hair bounced, and she pressed her broom to her body.  "My lady?"  She squeaked, then suddenly remembered to curtsy. 

     Kel watched the girl and her broom stoop awkwardly, and asked.  "Were you one of the servants working at the court party two nights ago?"

     "No, my lady" 

     Kel swallowed her disappointment.  She had questioned so many people, mainly servants, about Seaver, and if they had seen him with a girl.  Kel shut her eyes.  "Well, I don't suppose you saw Sir Seaver with a lady at any time that night?"

     "I did, my lady."

     The sigh Kel had been waiting to release stopped in her throat.  Her eyes flew open.  "You did?"  She demanded, gaze intense.

     The servant subtly leaned away from Kel and nodded.

     "When?  Who?  Who was he with?"

     The servant's eyes dodge Kel and locked onto something else.  "Her."  She pointed across the room.

     Kel looked over her shoulder.  "The one in green?"

     The servant nodded.  "Yes, my lady."

     Kel grabbed the servants' shoulders.  "Thank you, thank you so much."  And she marched straight over to the lady in green.  "My lady, may I please steal a moment of your time?"

     The lady in green seemed preoccupied, but when she looked at Kel, her face lit up.  "Lady Knight!  What a pleasant surprise!  I'm flattered that you remembered me."

     Kel frowned.  "Remem- oh!  Ness.  Of course.  How could I forget?"

     "It's Niss, actually-" she seemed to sense something cold in the way that Kel regarded her, and out she blurted, "but don't you worry, it's a common mistake.  In fact...in fact, sometimes...my parents!  My parents will even call me Ness, by mistake...sometimes."  She tried a tentative laugh and twisted a finger through a lock of hair.  "My parents...imagine that." 

  Kel's face stayed neutral.  "Oh, oh _Niss_.  That's right.  Niss.  Well, I don't suppose we could just have a little talk?"  Her eyebrows rose.

     "A talk!  Indeed, it would be splendid."

     Kel dropped on a couch; Niss sat just across from her.  Kel eyed her for a moment, then a strategy formed in her head.  She lounged back, stretched her long legs and smiled at Niss, who stayed upright and tense.  Kel said casually, "There were lots of interesting people at that party."

     " Oh yes, it was so great to see them all."

     Kels' eyes twinkled.  " Do you have an arranged marriage?"

     Niss shook her head.  "No, and I am lucky indeed."  She smiled.  

  Kel chuckled, "Then you must have had your eyes open?  Did you meet anyone interesting?"

     Niss opened her mouth, then lowered her head.  The air about her dropped.  "Sir Seaver.  I was with Seaver for a short time that night.  It is such a tragedy, what happened."

     Kel nodded slowly, thoughtfully.  Naturally the entire court had heard about the death by now, but Kel was certain that Niss here didn't need to get any information from some court gossip.

     "He was a friend of yours, wasn't he?"  Niss had lifted her head back up.  A tear rolled down to the corner of her mouth.  She wiped it off.

     Kel stopped.  Slowly, she said.  "Yes, he was.  And that's what I came to talk about."  This was not going entirely according to plan.  She had imagined a subtle, clever interrogation.  Now it almost felt like Niss was controlling the conversation.

     Niss sucked on her lips.  "You want to know what happened?" she guessed.

     Kel shifted her weight.  "I need to know."

     Niss nodded.  "Well, in all honesty, my lady, nothing happened."

     "Nothing?"  Kel asked dubiously.  "As in what?  Romance?"

     "What else?"  Niss looked a little confused.  "Anyway, I wasn't even really interested in him.  I did go to his room, but I left straight after.  It's complicated."

     This just didn't add up, as far as Kel was concerned.  "I don't understand.  You weren't interested him, so why go to his room?"

     "I, I don't feel comfortable talking about it."

     "Niss, I'm not going to go yelling out your secrets like a child.  This is important.  Seaver was murdered, and I'm going to have to be blunt: you were the last person to be seen with him.  You're a suspect.  The only one we have, in fact.  So if you don't tell me what happened, I'll leave you to some real interrogators."

     Niss looked shocked, then it finally seemed to sink in.  She dropped her head.  "It's the pressure," she said faintly.

     "What?"

     "The pressure!" she yelled, making Kel jump.  All of a sudden Niss was sobbing into her gloves.  "Oh, my lady, you have no idea what it's like!  My parents are always telling me about getting a husband.  They'll be so disappointed in me.  And the other ladies, too: all the ones in my year.  They...they circulated rumours that I..."she breathed in mightily through her nose and leaned over to Kel.  "They started a rumour that I didn't like men.  That I preferred wom-" she burst into tears again.  "That I preferred womeeeeeennn," she wailed the last word loudly.

     Kel looked about; people were staring.  She sat on the edge of the couch to pat Niss on the knee.  "Niss, stop.  Soon the whole kingdom will hear you.  You have to calm yourself down."

     With a great deal of effort, Niss made the sobbing cease.  She left her head in her hands, however, and her shoulders still shook.  

     But Kel still needed a lot more information.  "Niss, is the rumour true?"

     Niss looked up and at Kel with bloodshot eyes.  "Is that even important?  Or do you wish to torment me like everyone else?"

     Kel felt a flicker of impatience.  "I told you already, Niss: this is an important matter.  Not some sort of gossip collection."

     Niss hesitated.  She opened her mouth.  Shut it.  Finally, as quietly as she could, she said, "It is...I mean, I am.  I do...prefer..."

     "So then why did you kiss him?"  Kel interrupted so she could catch Niss by surprise.  And she did.

     Niss stared back dumbfounded.  "How did you know!"

     "He told me."  Kel watched the girls' eyes.  They flashed with what...?  Annoyance?       

  Niss' demeanour, on the other hand, told a different story.  She smiled softly and straightened her back.  "As I said, my lady: it was the pressure.  The pressure to fit in.  The hunger to please my parents."  She shook her head.  "I kissed him because I thought it was the right thing to do.  But by the time he had taken me down to his room, I realised I couldn't just lie to myself."  She shrugged.  "So I left."

     "I see."  Kel said nonchalantly.  "I guess that also means you were the one who gave him this letter."  Kel removed the letter she had found in Seaver's chamber from her bag and handed it, rolled up, to Niss.

     Niss went bright red.  "He even told you about this?  I thought love letters were meant to be private..."

     "Love letter!"  Kel choked back a laugh.  "Niss, please.  Don't play dumb with me."

     Niss frowned.  "What are you talking about?"

     "Perhaps you should refresh your memory."  Kel waved her hand at the letter.

     Niss unrolled it.  "This isn't my letter," she said immediately, then read it.  "My lady!  This is an assassins letter!  But-" she gasped.  "You thought, you thought I did it?  Me?"

     Kel stared back, her expression plain.

     "WHAT!"  Niss screeched, and threw the letter at Kels' feet.  "I don't know whether to be insulted or, or furious.  How dare you begin to presume.  What proof is there?  And I admired you!  And you're accusing me?  Is this your accusation?  This?  A letter and no witnesses?  Well?"

     Kel didn't say a word.

     "Liar!  There's no proof!  Don't you believe me?  I told you the truth: nothing happened.  Nothing!  I went to his room, then left.  Is that so hard to believe?  I didn't even like the man.  Obviously your assassin went in afterwards.  Do I look like a killer?  Me?  I'm seventeen!  I sit and giggle and do tapestries.  I don't kill people I've only just met for no reason.  This is unbelievable!"

     Kel raised an eyebrow.

     "Oh, so you want proof, huh?  Well, I'll give you proof.  Go to his rooms.  I'm sure you'll be quite disappointed to find that there is a love letter there.  I don't know where he put it but believe you me; it's there."  And with a huff and a flutter of her skirts she was gone.

     Kel sighed.

     "Maybe I was wrong in accusing her.  It's not like I had a lot of evidence, anyway.  And her story seemed to fit."  Kel had stopped by Dom's chamber before going to examine Seaver's.

     Dom moved closer.  "Not to mention we actually saw her that night.  She was coming into the hall when we were coming out."

     Kel nodded.  "And if she was telling the truth, then I'd say she had just come back from Seaver's."

     "She didn't seem that murderous to me."

     Kel put her head in her hands.  "Don't tell me I just accused a noble of being an assassin."

     Dom patted her back.  "There, there.  It's not that bad.  What's the worst that could happen?  She could go into a homicidal rampage with her knitting scissors, I suppose.  Or maybe she'd just go blind with fury and try to gnaw your arm off-"

     "And I came here for comfort," Kel grumbled.  She stood up, straightened her shirt and presented herself to Dom.  "Do I look forgivable?"

     Dom grinned and opened his mouth-

     Kel put her hand in his face.  "Actually, I don't think I want to hear it, Domitan."  She turned about and walked to Seaver's room.  She remembered the morning before yesterdays, when she and Dom were half jogging along this same passage, with no idea that everything was about to be flipped upside-down.  That they were going to find their friend lying across his bed, dead.

     Kel felt sick.

     Of all the deaths she had seen...this was different.  This had not been in battle: it had been cold blooded and cruel.  And why?  The motive seemed to be about how he had helped in the invasion of Scanra, where Kel killed Blayce the mage.  Invaders Of Scanra Will Die.  Kel shivered.  Then that also meant Neal, Dom, Merric, Owen, Esmond and whole load of others, and herself, were liable for an assassination.

     _'To be assassinated,'_ Kel thought.  _'What a horrible way to go.'_

     She stopped in Seaver's doorway.  The cleaners had been; there was no more blood.  The room had already been investigated.  Would the love letter still be in here?  Had it ever even been here at all?  Kel began a half-hearted search.  It felt so wrong to be going through all these things.  His papers, books and clothes hadn't been removed.  Kel guessed that family members were due to pick it all up.  Again, as she rifled through some papers, she felt a stab of guilt.

     "Excuse me.  Keladry of Mindelan, I believe?"

     Kel spun.  There was a young noble lady she hadn't seen before at the door.  Kel straightened her shoulders.  "Yes, that's me."

     The lady came closer.  Her face was frustratingly familiar, but Kel just couldn't say from where she'd seen it before.  "Allow me to introduce myself: I am Assa of Forestends.  And I am a close friend of the girl crying in her room at this very moment because you had the nerve to accuse her of murder."

     Kel blinked, surprised, then she understood and let out a long breath.  "I never accused her.  Not directly.  Let me explain.  My friend was killed two nights ago, and we have no idea who it is.  And now myself and many people that I hold dear are in danger until we can stop this killer.  I was not in any mood to be gentle.  And as far as I knew, she was the killer.  After all, she was the last known person to be seen with Seaver.  And the letter.  She had given him one at the party, then we find an identical parchment in his room, and it's a commission to kill him."

     Assa regarded her.  "Well, if she was the killer as you seem to suspect, then wouldn't it be her job not to be last person seen with him, let alone have any associations with him at all?  And why on earth would she hand over a commission to him at a party?"

     Kel didn't know what to say: the lady had a point.

     "And from the talk I've heard, this Seaver died without much of a fight.  Surely this means the deed was carried out by a professional, to so easily bring down a fully trained, strong young knight."  She smiled bitterly, "And if Niss was this professional, then I strongly doubt she'd have been flouncing around with the man for all to see."

     Kel had to admit, that all made a lot of sense.  She now felt certain that that love letter would be in here, somewhere.  She was also beginning to feel sick again.

     Seeing that look upon Kel's face, Assa sighed.  She put an arm across Kels' shoulders and drew her to the window.  "Forgive me if I sounded harsh, my lady.  But I have to defend my friend.  We've known each other since we were children, we were schooled together, we grew up together and trust me; she would never hurt a fly."  Assa smiled, kindly this time.

     Kel said, "I want to believe you.  Niss is a fine young woman.  But everything points at her, and now her biggest hope is that I find her love letter."

     The lady nodded, and looked sidelong across the room.  "Yes, she told me you'd be looking for- oh!  Would that be it up there?"

     "Where?"

     Assa pointed.  Atop the tall, exquisite cabinet near the door was a rolled up parchment.  Kel had to stand on a stool to reach it.  '_No wonder I didn't see it,_' she thought.

     Kel jumped down and stood next to Assa as she unrolled it.

     _Dearest Seaver, _it read.__

_                                  Watching you ignites a fire of passion within me.  My heart hungers for you.  My fingers long to touch you.  Every second, every step that we are apart makes me ache with longing._

     Kel stopped reading, and just made sure that it was signed by Niss.  "I think I've seen enough," she said.

     Assa eagerly took the letter off Kel, still reading.  "Oh my.  Niss warned me it was bad-" she laughed.  "But I wasn't expecting it to be like this!"

     Kel excused herself.  She had an apology to make.  And after that?  After that she would join her friends, and mourn.  She had pent up her feelings all day.  They needed to be released.

.                   .

**Thanks reviewers. ** I was enthralled with the responses.  Thankyou.  Hope you enjoyed Chapter 2.

Hannah:  Thanks for the pointers.  *sheepish* I sorta forget what the characters look like, except Kel.  I do have my own mental pictures of Dom, Neal etc but their just based on people I know.

Everyone:  I'm happy you think my story's different.  Thanks for the encouragement.  You ppl rock.  Plus you give better reviews than I.

Stay spiffy.

Liaska


	3. Two Down

**Chapter Three**

Kel had come to the Royal Guard Quarters straight after breakfast.  She looked around the office she waited in.  It looked like nothing different from any other: rogue sheets of paper, a desk, chairs, also a wide, metal, locked cabinet.  And a lovely view of the gardens.

     The captain she awaited started talking as he swung open the door.  He handed Kel a document as he sat on the opposite side of the desk.  Kel thanked him and scanned the paper.  It was the report of Seaver's assassination.  

     "You were right," Kel said.  "I knew all this already."  About to hand it back, a word caught her eye, and she read the sentence.  "Except for this...he was drugged?"

     The captain of the guard clasped his hands.  "Yes.  We got a sample of it, but we're still determining what type of drug it is."

     Kel took in the discovery.  "Thank-you, Captain.  Could you inform me as soon as you find out more about it?"

     "Of course."

     "And no-one has heard of this society.  What did they call themselves?  The Reapers?"

     "Yes, that's their name, and no, no-one has heard of them, which suggests they are foreign."  He looked past Kel.  "An assassins guild:  I thought they had all been stamped out, but it seems I was wrong."  He sighed.  "But I've sent out some of my best investigators.  I will inform you as soon as they report back.

    Kel forced a smile.  "Thank you."  She handed back the report, and made to leave, when something occurred to her.

     "Captain, I don't suppose you have a list of all the ladies that came from the convent this year."

     The Captain's forehead wrinkled as his eyebrows rose.  "No, but-"

     He was cut off as someone burst through the door.

     "Captain!"  The newcomer, an officer, exclaimed.  "Owen of Jesslaw has just been found dead in his room!"

     Kel slammed Niss against the bedroom wall, hands twisted tightly around the lady's collar. 

     "Coward!"  Kel yelled, her voice shaking with raw emotion.  "You kill two of my friends, then have the nerve to deny it?"

     "But, my lady, I swear-"

     "Stop it!  How can you expect me to trust you now?"

     "I never killed him!  Either of them!  I'm nothing but a lady!"

     "Lady?  You never even went to the convent!  I asked them: they'd never heard of you!"

     "No, I never went; I was schooled at home, with my friend."

     "So then who were those people you claimed to have spread rumours about your preferences?"

     "Other nobles back home!" 

     "They say we sweat when we lie."  Kel growled, glaring at the droplets forming on Niss' forehead.

     "No!"  Niss wailed.

     And Kel began to sweat herself- from the intensity.

     Never had she felt so overcome by grief and anguish.  To have just come from the horror of seeing another of her dearest friend's body lying across his own bed, and to find a commission in the room, that was identical to Seaver's, that said the person who had the piece of paper was allowed to kill Owen.

     And then to have her suspicions confirmed after asking a group of court ladies whether they'd had a girl called Niss at the convent.

     So she came to Niss, accused her, and Niss denied it!

     "And still you continue to deny!"  Kel yelled, and shoved Niss hard.  Something fell out of the lady's pocket and tinkled across the ground.

     "What's this?"  Kel said.  She let Niss slump against the wall and went to pick up the object.  It was a ring.  As a head, the ring had a wax sealer that was used to stamp drying wax with its pattern.  They were used for identification purposes on letters.    

     And Kel could sure identify with this.

     "This is the same ring used to stamp those two commissions."  Kel said.  "Oh, Niss.  You really have no hope of getting out of this now."

     Niss had gone white.  "I've never seen that before in my life!  Why can't you just believe me?"

     "How did it get in your pocket?"

     "Look how open this pocket is!  It wouldn't take much for someone to slip it in."

     Kel loomed over Niss.  "You were also seen with Owen.  And he winds up dead as well.  Have some damn dignity and just admit it."

     "I have nothing to admit."

     Kel imagined her hands squeezing the lady's throat.  Slowly, she said.  "You've been acting suspiciously ever since Seaver.  That morning when I confronted you.  You were nervous around me.  What's your excuse for that?"

     Niss looked like she was going to vomit.  "Ever since I met you..." she breathed, then shook her head.  "I tried to forget you.  I couldn't.  Seaver, then Owen: they were distractions...distractions from you, Kel."

     Kel groped for understanding of what it was Niss was saying.  She didn't want to believe the idea that began to touch her mind.  Kel scrutinised Niss: her chest rose and fell, loose hair stuck to her face.  Her eyes flashed, revealing a wild, unrestrained side of a girl that Kel realised she knew nothing about.  Kel looked away.  Her mind felt disconnected from her body.  She cleared her head, brought herself back down to the moment and looked at Niss again.

     Niss was spinning the lid off a vial.  She took a shot of the contents, and stepped towards Kel.  Niss moved with confidence.  Her face, set with determination, soon hovered in front of Kel's.

     The knights' fingers clasped the thin air where her sword would usually hang, and found she had left it behind.  Annoyance flickered across Kel's face, and in this moment of distraction, Niss made her move.

     She pressed up against Kel, and kissed her.  Hard.

     Kel felt like the entire world had stopped, and every single one of her senses was focused on the body against her.  Then something like a sweet drink gushed from Niss's mouth to Kel's.  

     Suddenly Kel was aware of the bedpost jabbing into her back, the two cold hands caressing her face and the awkward way she was bent to match Niss's height.  Kel shoved Niss off with enough force to send the lady sprawling.

     Niss seemed unperturbed, even from her undignified position on the floor.  She looked back at Kel with triumph.

     Kel couldn't believe it.  She stumbled out of the room, flustered and disorientated.  She fought off the urge to wipe her tongue on her shirt.

     "That's why I acted like a nervous child around you, Kel," came Niss's voice from the doorway.  

     Kel turned back, and glared, disgusted.  '_Just you wait Niss,_' she thought.  _'I'm off to do something I should've done at the beginning.'_  She turned on her heel and headed to the central part of the palace.  She was off to get a mage to make sure that Niss was telling the truth, using a truthspell.

     _'I've got her now.'_

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

_*cringes*  _Please don't kill me for killing Owen.  At first I thought 'eh, I'll just make it Esmond.'  But _then_ I thought.  'that's not fair; just cos Esmond is a minor character compared to our beloved Owen, it shouldn't make Owen invincible.'  So there you have it.  *cuffs boot* I'm sowwy.

Once again, thanks to my reviewers.  And don't worry, killers get what they deserve.

Liaska. 


	4. An Assassin's Failure

**Chapter Four**

     "Did you kill Seaver or Owen?"

     "No."  Niss said, meeting Kel's gaze.

     "Truth."

     "Truth?" Kel choked, staring at Numair in disbelief.

     Numair shook his head, smiling.  "Kel, I really don't know what's gotten into you."

     "Just one more question," Kel pleaded.  "Just let me ask her one more question."

     "We're bending the rules enough as it is," he replied.  "Legally, she wouldn't even have to respond."  To Niss he said, "Thank you for cooperating.  I hope you haven't been offended in any way."

     Niss laughed.  "I was accused of murder!  But no, I'll let it slip."  She looked at Kel, her eyes dancing.  "And I forgive you Kel.  These are tough times for you, poor thing, and it's easy to see how your judgment could be affected."

     Kel kept her Yamani straight face, but she knew there was something afoot here.  She just had to find out what it was exactly.

     Numair left, and it was back to just the lady and the knight again.

     Kel stepped a hand's breadth away from Niss.  "I know you're up to something," Kel said quietly.  "And believe me, I'll find out what it is."

     Niss smiled slyly.  "Oh, I don't think you'll have to worry about anything much longer."

     Kel gave her a hard look and left.  

     It was on her way across the garden that she first felt it.  Kel was wondering about Niss's sudden change in manner, and of Owen, when her vision blurred and her head felt like a cloud had been stuffed in it.  She stumbled, and when her head cleared she found that she was supporting herself against a tree.

     _'What was that_,' she thought.  _'Is this from emotional stress?'_

     She considered seeing Neal about it, when nausea filled her stomach.  With dismay she realised she was going to throw up.  She rushed to her chamber and collapsed over the privy.  Nothing.  

     Kel was almost disappointed.  She'd be stuck with this sick stomach now.

     Kel felt exhausted, and, too mind-weary to get up, soon fell asleep against the wall.

     It was dark when Kel stirred.  She immediately grew tense, wondering what had woken her, because she sure hadn't finished sleeping.

     Slowly she stood, and peeked into her room.  Nobody there.  She creeped through the doorframe and went straight for her glaive...

     ...that wasn't there.  Kel thought of a serene lake.  This was no time to use her imagination.  She lit some candles and looked across the wall.  Something out of place caught her eye, and she saw the end of a wooden pole sticking out from the gap between her desk and the wall.  She recognised the wood as her glaive and pulled it out.

     _'Now how had it gotten there?'_

     She stepped back a bit, looked over her shoulder, just to be sure, and looked back to her glaive.

     This was not right.  Not right at all.  She should leave right now, go seek Dom and be safe in his room.

     What if something was happening to Dom right now, or Neal, or Merric...which one of them was next in line?  Was it her?  

     She got the most horrible feeling that it was.

     She thought of Niss.  What part did she play in this?

     Kel took a deep breath.  _'Be brave._'  Maybe she could kill the assassin: save her friends.  The idea was inviting.  Tobeis popped up into her mind.  Tobe and Jump and her sparrows; waiting for her back at New Hope.  They would not be happy if she went and got herself killed. Light reflected off her suit of armour that was propped up and on display like the ones used as decorations in the great halls.  She leaned closer and saw a pale face against the shining metal.

     Her face.  A sick face.  She went back into the bathroom and frowned at herself in the mirror.  White skin, tinted with yellow, and big black smudges under her eyes.  Without warning her vision blurred as it had earlier and she pressed both hands against the wall.  The dizzy spell lasted a whole minute.  She decided something was definitely wrong.  Was it something she ate? Had someone poisoned her food?  She felt nauseous.  

    Was this how Owen and Seaver were so easily brought down?

     Kel gasped.  Was this...the drug?

     Kel picked up her glaive.  It helped make her feel a little more safe.  She turned around and went back into her room.  She stopped dead.  There was something on her bed.  Something that wasn't there before:

     A rolled up piece of parchment.

     Kel looked about wildly.  Nobody!

     She swallowed, and picked the parchment off the bed.

     Maybe it's nothing.  Maybe she just hadn't seen it before.  No one was in here.  So what was so wrong?

     She sat on the side of the bed, placing her glaive right beside her.  She reluctantly unrolled the parchment.

_The bearer of this document has commission to kill the following:_

_Lady Keladry, Knight of Tortall_

_Under the ruling of the Mother Reaper of the ancient society of Reapers._

     And it had the black stamp right underneath.

     Kel stopped breathing.  This was out of control.  She had to leave, had to get help.  The dizzy spell came back again, her stomach ached and her ears blocked up.  She could hear her own pulse, deep and imperious.  She hugged her stomach, willing the pain to go away.  It began to ease, as with the dizziness. She kept her weariness at bay.  Then...

    She stilled.

   Behind the throbbing in her ears, she caught a noise...

   Creeeak, creeak, creaak.  

   She pinched her nose and popped her ears.

     Creeeeak.

     The noise was familiar.  Very familiar.  

     Slowly, she turned, like she was not looking forward to what she might find.

     She blinked in surprise, what in the Goddess's name was her suit of armour doing right behind her, with a sword poised right above her head.

     WHAT!!!  Her mind screamed, and she swung her glaive around just in time to intercept the sword.  From inside the suit someone cursed.  Kel spun to meet the next ferocious, well-aimed swings, and once she had her bearings, she stopped defending and let loose her own offensive manoeuvres.

     It did not take long for Kel to realise her muscles were not reacting as quickly as usual, and her mind was not timing moves like it should be.  The sword narrowly missed a pierce at her chest.

     _'Could this be it?'_ Kel wondered.

     "No!" She yelled, surprising herself.  The attacker hesitated, and Kel _lunged._

     Her glaive slit through the armour like it was butter, striking the heart.  Kel jerked her weapon before pulling it back out.

     The attacker's sword fell, and he, or she, staggered back, staring at the blood spilling down the cuirass.  Then the helmet straightened, and looked at Kel, and the person dropped.

     Kel gasped, breathing heavily and leaning her weight on the glaive.  She stared blankly at the body, torn between crumpling over to sleep, or finding out who's behind that helmet.

     Curiosity won out, and Kel half collapsed to one knee to remove the helmet.  Dark hair spilled out of it, and a pale, familiar face stared at the ceiling.

     To Kel's astonishment, it wasn't Niss:  it was Niss' friend, Assa.  Assa of Forestends.

     This was the girl who found where Niss' love letter hid in Seaver's chamber.  The one who had lectured Kel for accusing Niss.  Kel wondered if Niss knew of her friend's dubious profession.  What would Niss say when she found out Assa was dead by Kel's hand?

     The knight groaned as her stomach lurched.  She felt like going to sleep on the floor.  She crawled a few paces away from Assa, and lay down on her side.  She shut her eyes, instantly drifting off, but something still nagged her.  Something she had forgotten.

     "Poison...the drug," said a faint voice, far off into the back of Kel's consciousness.

     "Poison!"

     Kel jumped.  It was the rudest awakening she ever had had.  She didn't even know what had woken her, but it suddenly occurred to her that, yes, the killer was dead, but wasn't she drugged, or poisoned, just like Owen and Seaver had been?

     She needed a healer, and fast.  She mentally battered away cries for her to go back to sleep, and she dragged herself across the floor with her powerful arms.  _'As long as you get yourself to the neighbour's door, you might live the night,'_ Kel told herself over and over.  It became her sole motivation.

     By the time she banged her head against her neighbour's door, Kel was beyond exhaustion.  Her head hit the stone floor when her neighbour opened up, and one of his feet bumped against her.  She heard him exclaim, and felt strong hands grip under her arms, then experienced the hard floor as her limp body was towed across it.  The last thing she remembered of this eventful evening was Neal's worried face above her.

A penny for your thoughts? (review!)


	5. Old Friends, New Victims

**Chapter Five**

     "...sleep it out."

     "Will she be alright?"

     "Yes, now get some rest yourself."

     Kel blinked her eyes open as the voices faded away.  She was tucked into a soft, warm bed inside a plain looking room.  Her muscles were stiff; she had to focus to make them move.  She sat up against her pillow and rubbed her eyes.  Someone slumped in a chair beside her snored softly.  Kel burned with affection when she recognised Dom.  She watched his chest rise and fall, lost in her emotions for him.  She wanted to wake him up, but didn't want to disturb him, either.  'He's so wonderful,' she decided.

     Dom's snoring abruptly turned into snorts, and he awoke with an almighty sneeze.  Kel grimaced against the spray.  Dom groaned and pressed the heels' of his palms into his eyes.  He seemed a little perplexed, but when he looked up to Kel looking at him, his face reflected her own fondness.

     "Kel, you're awake."

     "Dom..."

     He stood, and bent to kiss her.  Kel melted.  Her heart pounded when he finally relinquished her.  He cupped her face into his hands.  

     "My dear, you had us so worried."

      She touched his wrist.  "Worried?  What happened?"

     "Bendon brought you to the healers' last night.  He said you had collapsed at his door.  The healer found you had been drugged, but she's not sure by what.  We searched your room after that.  There was blood on the floor and blood on your glaive.  But nobody else was there, and you're not cut.  Then we found the parchment...Kel, what's wrong?"  

     Kel had gone rigid.  Last night came back to her memory like an unwanted visitor.  She stared at Dom.  "You said nobody was there?"  She asked at length.

     "No, nobody.  What happened to you?"

     "But that doesn't make sense.  I got her right through the heart.  There must be two!  Niss!"

     "Kel, you're not making any sense.  Who did you get?  Two what?  Who's Niss?"

     Kel threw off her bed covers, and gasped as her bare feet pressed down on cold stone.  "You remember Niss.  The lady at the party, before Seaver was...was..." she choked back the word.  It brought too much pain.

     Doms' eyes widened.  "Niss of Riveredge?  Did she do this?"

     "No.  Her friend did.  But Niss has something to do with it, I sure of it."

     "You know who attacked you? I- what are you doing.  You're sick."

     Kel dressed into her proper clothes that had been left folded on the bedside table.  "I'm fine.  Now come; I'll explain on the way."

     Kel lead the way to Niss's room, and told Dom about the attack.  Kel opened Niss's door, but only a servant was there, sweeping the floor.  The servant told them Lady Niss had left a time ago, and she believed the lady had gone to Kels' chambers.  Kel thanked the servant and ran to her chambers.

     "It's nice to see you're feeling better." Dom mentioned along the way.  Kel smiled.

     They halted at Kel's open door.  Inside there was Niss and Neal.  Neal had an empty glass vial in his hand and a forefinger in his mouth.  Niss sat ungracefully on the floor, her back to them.  She was sobbing.

     Kel hesitated, and approached Neal first.

     Neal spoke before Kel could.  "We just found this on the floor," he told her, indicating the vial.  He looked thoughtfully at his wet finger.  "Interesting..." he muttered.

     Kel frowned; she had forgotten what she'd been meaning to ask.  So instead she nodded at the vial.  "What about it?"

     "This vial held one of the most potent healing potions I've ever come across," he said.  "It's stronger than anything the King would have."

     Kel's stomach twisted.  "Just how strong, exactly?"

     Neal shook his head.  He almost seemed awed.  "I don't know its limits.  I don't even know if it has limits."

     Kel bit her lip, and began to go through last night.  She had stabbed Assa- through the heart- and Assa had fallen.  Kel had removed the helmet.  By that time Assa should have been dead.  Then Kel had crawled away.  That's the first time she had her eyes off Assa.  If Assa had used the potion, it would have been then.  But how? How?  Assa was dead.  Her heart had been skewered.  It was impossible.  No potion could bring someone back from the dead, no matter how strong Neal said it was.  Even if someone else had come in to put the potion on Assa...she had still been dead.

     Kels' eyes focused on Niss.  Niss twisted around to look at Kel.  Her eyes were bloodshot and her face and chest drenched.  It was a gut-wrenching sight.

     "Kel," Niss whimpered.  "I never knew...never knew what she was."

     Her voice was so sincere that it swayed the way Kel thought about her.   She couldn't bare to look at the lady.  She exchanged glances with Dom and Neal.  "I need to talk to her," she told them.

     Dom nodded; Neal frowned.  Dom pulled his cousin away, no doubt planning to explain to him what Kel had told him about her attack. 

     "They took her body," Niss rasped as the door clicked shut.

     Kel folded her arms.  "How do you know Assa was the one?"

     Niss' shoulders slumped.  "She's been acting strangely since we came.  I just figured she was nervous.  But last night she was all tense.  She left my rooms, and when she didn't come back I went looking for her.  Then I saw people carrying her body out of your window."  She started to cry again.  "Then...then I heard talk...t-t-that you were almost killed.  And they found the parchment in your roooooooooooms."  She buried her face in her hands.  "And, and I realised: she was the only one who could've planted that ring in my, my pocket.  Oh, it's so horrible!"

     Kel sat near Niss, but not too close.  "You didn't know she was a killer?"

     "No.  We grew up together.  I don't know where she got it from."

     "And you never knew her to have any ties to Scanra?  Any reason why she'd want to kill the 'Invaders of Scanra?'"

     Niss shook her head and blew on a handkerchief.  "Nothing that I can think of, my lady."

     "Is there any reason why she'd do this at all, then?"

     Niss seemed to think about.  "No," she concluded.

     Kel wondered what else to ask, but Niss cut in.

     "I don't understand assassins," she said.   "Not really.  I can understand that people need to make a living, but killing for gold is despicable."

     Kel kept her comments to herself.  It was better to let Niss talk.

     Niss hugged her knees.  "Perhaps they just do it for the rush," she said.  "For the love of it.  But I don't see how killing could be someone's passion.  I guess...I guess their hearts are just on the wrong side."  She looked at Kel and a slow smile stretched across her face.

     Kel swallowed.  "I guess so," she said carefully, and stood up.  She didn't see this going anywhere, and she wanted to consult Neal and Dom.  Maybe they'd have something to say.   Kel said goodbye, and Niss followed her out of the room.  Then they parted ways.

    Kel found that she seemed to keep changing her mind about Niss.  She's the killer, then she's not.  She's the killer, then she's the accomplice, then she's innocent. 

     Who is she?

     A lady who really liked her, it seems.

     Kel squirmed just thinking of the way Niss kissed her.  It was something she'd never want to repeat: not with Niss, anyway.  Kissing Dom was very different.  She felt like kissing him now.  She looked down the hall.  Someone was standing there.  Unfortunately it wasn't Dom, but it was still a close friend...

     Yukimi caught sight of Kel, and she rushed towards her.  "Kel!" she breathed, her eyes sparkling.  She grasped Kel's arms, her face filled with happiness and relief.

     _'Very un-Yamani like_,' Kel thought as Yukimi hugged her.  But she was overjoyed to have such a good friend as this.

     "Oh, Kel, you scared us so," Yukimi said, putting Kel at arm's length.

     Kel smiled.  "I'll always be fine, Yukimi.  You know me."

     Yukimis' eyes danced.  "So I do."

     Kels' eyes dropped as Seaver and Owen came to mind.  They had not been so lucky.

     Yukimi sensed something was wrong, and hugged Kel again.  "Kel, Dom just told me how you stopped the assassin last night.  You've saved your friends.  Owen and Seaver...we can't do anything about what happened to them.  But we can still keep them alive in our hearts.  Be strong."

     Kel felt her throat clench, and she began to weep into Yukimi's shoulder.  The Yamani held her tighter.  

     "The funeral will commence soon.  Come.  Lets get you dressed."

     Kel nodded and let herself be lead away.  She wiped her eyes, wondering what had gotten into her.  _'Two of your friends were just murdered_,' she reminded herself.  _'This is normal_.'  Kel shuddered.  And she had almost been killed herself.  If she hadn't turned around last night, after she had read the parchment...well, she didn't want to contemplate.

 **********

The Funeral helped.  She was able to say goodbye to Owen and Seaver properly with all the other people that loved them.  And there was quite a lot.  She caught a glimpse of Lord Wyldon: tears rolled down his cheeks.  

     The sunset stretched behind Kel as she and Dom walked to his quarters.  Halfway there, she noticed a familiar small figure riding a familiar large horse.

     "Tobe," she laughed, grateful for the unexpected distraction.  Dom looked up and let his arm drop off Kels' shoulders.  Kel walked forward to greet her faithful companion.  Jump was also in the saddle.  Several sparrows flew over and perched onto Kel, cheeping.

     "Lady Kel! You're alright!"  Tobe cried as he jumped off Peachblossom.

     "Yes, Tobe, I'm fine."  Jump and Peachblossom came to sniff her.  Dom kept a respectful distance away from the horse.

     Tobe looked tired.  "How long have you been riding for?" Kel demanded.

     Tobe shrugged.  "Ever since I heard of that assassin going around."

     Kel felt very glad that he hadn't been here when Assa was still alive.  She'd've been worried about him.  "Well, you'd better wash up then, just follow Jump to my rooms."

     But Tobe didn't move.  He looked as though there was something he wanted to say, but didn't have the right words for it.  Then he just jumped forward and hugged Kel.  She smiled and ruffled his hair.  He pulled back and rushed away with the animals.

     Kel watched them go.  "What did I ever do without them?"  She asked Dom.

     Dom slid an arm around her waist.  "Plenty of things," he told her slyly.

     Kel blushed and gave him an affectionate whack.  "Indeed!"

     Dom chuckled and drew her into his arms.  They kissed, stopped for air, and kissed again.

     "And what did I ever do without you, Domitan of Masbolle?"

     Dom considered.  "Not much," he told her finally, straight-faced.

     They laughed together and continued down the path to his rooms. 

     Kel had just locked Dom's door behind her, when a group of the sparrows fluttered outside his window, cheeping wildly.  Someone was in trouble!  She immediately thought of the Assa, and the group that had carried her off last night.  Who had the sparrows been near?  _'Tobe!'_ she thought, and her stomach sank.

     "Dom," she said as she unlocked the door, "Tobe's in trouble!"

     "I'm right behind you."  He said, stopping to grab two swords from the rack.  He handed one to her as they ran out of the building, then they sprinted after the sparrows across the gardens, causing people to stare.  The sparrows lead them to Kels' chambers.

     Kel bashed her door open, ready to maim the fool who'd try to hurt Tobeis.  But only Tobe was inside, letting Jump lick his slashed arm.  Kel grimaced, and thanked the gods under her breath.  He was alive.  "Tobe, who did this?"

     Tobe looked up, and smiled sheepishly.  "A lady.  She was dressed up in black with a mask.  She was here when I came in.  Expecting you, I think she was.  Got a surprise when Jump sprang on her.  She fended him off with her sword and wanted to know where you were," he lifted his chin.  "I didn't tell her, though.  She tried to kill me; said something about me being an invader.  But Jump and the sparrows scared her off.  She jumped out the window."

     "How long ago?"  Kel demanded.

     "Only a minute or two.  Some sparrows are tracking her."

     Kel turned back to Dom.  "Would you take care of Tobe?"

     He nodded.  He started towards the boy, then stopped and grasped Kel's arm.  He gave her an intense look.  "Kel, take care of yourself, won't you?"

     Kel smiled and nodded.  "Of course."

     He let go, and she rushed to the open window.  She had one leg over the sill when Dom called.  "Wait! Kel."

     Kel looked up.   "Yes?" She asked, trying not to sound impatient.

     He took his sword off her and handed her her glaive.  He kissed her forehead and grinned down at her.  "Good hunting, Protector."

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Hey happy readers.

Thanks for reading- hope you're enjoying it.  Here's something I should've been doing from the start: responding to reviews.  Sorry if I seem ungrateful.

Thanks to chp One + Two reviewers. Are all of you guys still reading?  (Besides Cami, Kalle, Snow*flake, Lady Sandrilene, Lady Me and more who keep reviewing- thank you vewwy much.)

And now, Chapter 4 reviewers:

**Kalle: **No, Kel didn't realise.  But you did!  You're on the ball. Thanks.

**Haydens Super Hobbit: **its suspenseful? Really? Thank you. Maybe, one day, I might be able to do it all on purpose.

**Cami: **Cami, you're reviews are one in a million. Always very _insightful_ and... amusing.  Heh heh. You've reviewed about every chapter, huh? Thank you!  I'm a big fan of you, so I'm flattered about you're praise.

**Lady Wild Rose: **Thanks for the encouragment.  I could never get enough of it.

**Lady Sendrilene: ***zips your mouth shut* sssh! J  (Thanks for all the reviews!)

**Lady Me: **It is a bit of a cliffhanger, yeah- I thought it was a good place to end the chapter. Thank you; you were the first reviewer for this and you're still reading. Cool!

**Snow*flake:** Here's your penny. Hope that assignment went well.  (I chose not to do media, luckily).  I'm glad you enjoyed it (the fic, not the assignment!) Hope you get time to keep writing yourself, I too have been struggling a bit with having homework.  Oh well! Carry on, carry on.

That was fun.  I'll do it more often. 


	6. The Guild

Chapter Six

Kel followed the sparrows' lead after the assassin who had attacked Tobe.  She had her glaive in hand and Jump at her side- he had caught up with her only minutes before.  Kel paced herself as one expecting to run for a long time should, and thanked the gods for all the exercise they made her do since she started training as a knight.

     She had gone through the city and now skipped around trees in the local forest.  She stopped at a shallow creek, filled her stomach, and caught her breath.  With her head cleared, it occurred to her to send one of the sparrows back to the palace.  Because knowing her friends, they'd want to come too.  They'd also be levelheaded enough to think of bringing food.  And horses.  

     Not wanting to waste any more time than she had to, Kel hauled herself up and jogged after the sparrows.  After tripping over for the third time, Kel reluctantly stopped for the day.  It had been sunset when she had left, and now, even with the full moon sending ghostly beams though gaps in the canopy, it was just too dark and dangerous to be moving in a forest.  She curled up around Jump and rested her head on a tree root, and closed her eyes.  Sleep did not come easily, not with all the thoughts whirling around in her head, and when it finally did come, it was spent tossing and turning.

     Early the next morning, once she had been moving for over an hour, the sparrow she had sent back to the palace landed on a branch and signalled 'friends'.  Kel sighed with relief, and her belly grumbled.  And despite the urge to tear madly after the assassin, she sat, and waited.  Neal, Dom, Dom's squad, Esmond, Merric and Yukimi- to Kel's surprise- finally caught up, on foot, guiding the horses through the trees.  Kel stared at the large amount of people.  It almost felt silly.  She was, after all, only going after one person.  Yet Kel couldn't help feeling a little high and mighty with so many people who'd just drop everything to join her on another little adventure...

     "Tobe insisted on coming," Dom explained as soon as they got Kel eating, "But to stop him from going anywhere, we put him under the care of the strictest, harshest, most stubborn healer we could find."

     "My dad," Neal said proudly.  

     Kel's half-chewed food sprayed everywhere as she burst into laughter.  "He's not that bad!" she cried.  _'By the gods it's good to laugh!'_

     They left her, and she gulped down the last of her simple but satisfying breakfast.  She turned to face her little army, and an elated little pang filled her body.  _'They all came.  They didn't have to, but they did._'  She smiled down at them from her rock.  "Somehow I don't think we'll have much to worry about," she told them.  "You are all aware that we're after only one person, aren't you?"

     "But Kel, what about when this loner leads us to the rest of the pack?"  Dom replied innocently, like he was only reminding her of something she already knew.

     "Oh!"  Kel said, her eyes wide.  _'I didn't think of that.'_  "Of course.  So you will all be very helpful indeed."  She smiled again, trying to seem cool and calm.  Like she was in control.  That illusion crumbled with the chuckles coming from Dom's squad.  "Well," she said, just a little more gruffly, "We might as well be off, then."  She raised her voice, "And remember to be vigilant, and watch for signals from the sparrows.  We don't want to be discovered, or else we might end up with this whole assassin's guild on our heads."  Once they were moving again, Kel asked Dom, who had moved to her side, "So who thought of the idea to follow the assassin?"

     "The Captain of the Guard, actually," he said, and grimaced.  "This time we have permission to follow you, from the king, no less."  Kel raised her eyebrows, and he added, "The Captain explained to King Jonathan that these commissions found on Seaver and Owen came from, what we assume, to be a collective group of people that, as you know, call themselves the Reapers.  But we are also open to the possibility that it might be just a ploy to scare us off."

     Thinking of the group marching behind her, Kel laughed ruefully.  "Fat chance!"  She sobered as Niss came to mind.  "But I do not think it is a ploy.  Remember when I talked to Niss after Neal found that vial in my room?"  Dom nodded, and she continued, "According to her, a group of people carried Assa's body from my room after the fight.  More Reapers, I suspect."

     Dom gave it some thought, then asked carefully, "Just how reliable do you think Niss is?"

     Kel looked into his eyes, and let her shoulders rise and slump.  "I just don't know."  

     They both sighed and looked at the forest before them.  Kels' ears picked up a familiar sound, off into the distance.  Her sparrows.  She strode forward.  The cheeping became louder, and the three of the sparrows tracking the assassin zoomed overhead, then turned back around and flew in front of Kel, signalling 'enemies,' and 'twenty-five,' and roughly how far away they were.  It was a safe enough distance.  

     _'Twenty-five_,' Kel thought.  _'Seems like we've reached their hideout_.'  She repeated the information for anyone that didn't know the signal system.

     "What should we do, Protector?"  Someone asked.

     Kel tucked her hair behind her ears.  That question became less strange every time it was asked of her.  "Send scouts out.  Picket the horses.  Have a break, eat, rest.  We may be overrunning them tonight, at midnight?  When they're sleeping.  Unless our scouts give us a reason not to."  She smiled and waved her hands in dismissal.  They dispersed.  Kel watched them until Yukimi prodded her with some jerky.

     "Eat," she told her.

     Kel accepted the food and a water skin and nodded her thanks.  She sat on a rock.  Dom came over to join her, with his own rations.  They sat together on Kel's rock and ate the ordinary food, and gulped their drinks.  

     Finally Kel said, "I'm going after the scouts.  See where our little assassin friends have decided to set themselves up."      

     Dom nodded, mouth full.

     Kel scooped up her glaive.

     "Mmmf," Dom grunted, and said something through his food.

     "Pardon?"  Kel said sweetly.

     Dom swallowed.  "Wait," he gasped.  "I'm coming."

     Kel grinned, and they left, Jump silently joining them. 

     The assassins had stationed themselves in a large cave with a large mouth, opposite the bottom of a steep hill scattered with trees and bushes.  Kel, Dom, and one of the scouts squatted behind a bush at the top of that steep hill, looking down at the enemy base.  They began forming strategies, and assessing vantage points.  Neal, Esmond and Merric soon joined them.

      "They're Scanran," Neal remarked.

      "And all dressed in the same black uniform," Esmond said.  "No servants?"  

     Kel drew them back a bit, not wanting to risk exposure.  They eventually decided to, when most of the enemy were sleeping, to send to stealth groups into the cave, and take down, as quietly as possible, any lookouts.  Then the knights would charge down the hill.  An extra instruction given to their little army was: kill only if necessary.  Kel wanted to find out more about these people, and if half of them even deserved to die, then leave them to the Tortallan Justice System.

     Kel listened to the breaths of her fellow knights as she watched the cave entrance.  The hill ran down before her, glowing in the moonlight.  Firelight came from inside the cave.  There were two assassin-guards, nearly invisible in the dark, standing at either side of the entrance.  Kel held her breath as one of her stealth groups crept closer to the guard on the left.  Almost there...nearly...

     "Reapers!  Beware!  The Tortallans are here!"

     Kel stiffened.  _'I know that voice._'  Someone in an assassin's outfit bolted by, not two meters away from Kel and her men, screaming the warning.  The person flew down the hill, towards the cave.  Kel cursed and sprang forward,  "Attack!" she yelled.  

     The Knights stampeded into the cave, just after the stealth groups.  Bewildered assassins were rushing forward to meet the onslaught.  Kel hefted her glaive, blocked the path of a sword, spun, and knocked out the assassin.  She met the second attacker head on, swung her glaive.  Dodged.  

     "Their blades are poisoned!"  A Tortallan cried.

     Kel hesitated; the assassin pounced.  Kel jerked her glaive up, impaling the assassin.  She tugged out her blade, and delivered the mercy cut across the throat.  She jumped over dying body and bashed Yukimi's opponent on the head.  The assassin staggered.  Yukimi swung her own glaive, knocking the assassin down.  Kel struck again, finally rendering the assassin unconscious.  Yukimi twirled and pressed her back against Kel's.  Kel licked sweet sweat from the corners of her mouth, keeping her glaive in front.  No one came forward.  It took her a moment to realise the only assassins still standing were dropping their swords, and raising their hands in the air.  Tortallans kept blades poised at their throats'. 

     "We yield," one croaked in Scanran.

     Kel lowered her weapon, relieved.  Others relaxed, too.  "Tie them up," she said, and added.  "Any injuries?"

     "Over here."

     Kel turned; Neal was leaning over a Tortallan with a slashed arm.

     "It's just a scratch," the man complained.

     "Quiet," Neal chided him.  "You're poisoned."

     The man went pale.

     "Protector," someone murmured.

     Kel turned.  Dom and some of his men were leaning over a body with a crossbow bolt through an eye.  She recognised the dead man; he served in Dom's squad.  "I didn't notice anyone holding a crossbow," she told Dom as she knelt beside him.

     "If only that assassin didn't sound out a warning, he probably wouldn't be dead," Dom's voice broke.  He had barely listened to her.

     Kel scolded herself.  _'I didn't notice anyone holding a crossbow...  How sympathetic.'_  She rubbed Dom's back in what she hoped to be a comforting way.  Then the sound of the assassin's voice resounded in her head.  _"Reapers!  Beware!"_  She recognised the voice easily.  After all, she'd been listening to it for the past few days now.

     "Dom," she said, "I know who that assassin was...is."

     Dom looked up at her, light reflecting off the tears in his eyes, his expression strained.  "Who?" 

     "Niss."

     "Niss!"

     "Is she even here?"  Kel wondered aloud.  She stood and looked about.  None of the tied assassins, or the one she had killed, was Niss.  Kel counted them all up.  "Twenty-four," she said.  "Niss couldn't have been with them when the sparrows told us there were twenty-five.  That means Niss and one other is missing."

     "The cave keeps going," Dom suggested to her.  "They must've fled through there."

     "Right."  Kel said, set with determination.  She wiped the blood off her glaive and took a torch hanging from the wall.  She looked into the darkness that was the cave.  How long it kept going was impossible to tell.  She breathed deeply.  This was it.  Finally Kel knew with complete certainty that Niss was involved.  Finally she could bring that...that..._person_ down.

     Kel tightened her grip on the torch and walked towards the shadows.

~ ~ ~ ~

My, my, my. May I point out this is the second last chapter? Second last chance for me to say **please review!**  I adore the things. I have 40 so far, and I'm proud.  So if ya reading, and you're enjoying, or if you have advice (*especially if you have advice*) then review, review, review.  I already enjoy everything I write, so my fanfiction goal is to make a story that gets 100+ reviews.  That'd be sweet.  I know it's not going to happen with this one, but I'm working on another, if you'd care to check my bio?  Anyway, hope you've enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it for you (and myself!) 

And now…

**Kalle: **You'll get allll you answers soon enough.  You're a very attentive reader, and thanks, villains are the best fun to write.  Kel: medieval wonderwoman.

**Valencia22: **Tis fine. Thank-you.  I had the plot planned.  Y'know, wrote out all the key stuff that had to happen in each chapter.  But it never turns out exactlythe way it's meant to, ever.  At first I drafted this to have only 6 chapters.  Ah well!  Lots of other people kept coming in and intruding- I had to beat them back with a broom.  "I will not drag this story out!"

**Christelle: **Thank-you.  I like Kel/Dom.  Dammit, though- when I was reading Lady Knight I was like, "C'mon, c'mon…10 pages left: they can still get together! There's still time!" Sigh.  A very kick-ass book, nevertheless!  It didn't _need_ romance. But still…

**Snow*flake: **I'm flattered.  I'm meant to be doing maths right now.  Heh.  Dom's a sweetie. (read previous comment.  Gah!) Happy my story can be a little relief.  (And cut that metaphorical beard off right now, young lady!)

C'mon, people.  Lets beat my outstanding 4 reviews!  (And 4 outstanding reviews they were, btw.)  

~Liaska


	7. Settling Debts

Chapter Seven 

Firelight flickered on the cave walls.  The passage grew narrower with every step.  Keladry of Mindelan found herself stooping.  A turn lay up ahead.  Kel crept towards it.  She poked her head around then instantly withdrew.  Meters away the passage opened up to a furnished area with dim light.  They had to be in there.  Kel considered her options, and decided upon surprise attack.  She started when something warm and solid pressed against her leg.  She looked down: Jump.  She relaxed, and extinguished her torch.  

     She pressed her back against the cave and slid around the corner with one hand running across the wall for guidance and the other around her glaive.  She halted just before the room's opening and examined it without letting the candlelight catch her.  Nobody awaited her, as far as she could tell.  She listened.  Nothing.  Still she hesitated.  _'The passage probably keeps going,' _she told herself.  _'They're probably escaping right now.'_  

     Kel moved forward, Jump just a step in front of her.  He growled and Kel stopped.  _'What is it?' _she wondered.  Without warning, Jump bolted into the room.  A figure dressed in black dropped from the roof, daggers drawn.  Jump sprang at the assassin.  Kel accelerated, catching the assassin from behind and tackling her.  Kel elbowed the person's spine.  She gripped her glaive with both hands and pressed the shaft across the person's throat, and dragged the person to their feet.  Kel stood with the assassin's back against her.  Jump moved away.  Blood stained his muzzle.  The assassin was trying to push the wooden shaft away, but Kel easily resisted.

     "Who do we have here?"  Kel said.

     The body stiffened.  It said, "Why don't you find out?"

     "_Niss," _Kel said, recognising the voice.  "I'm not surprised.  Drop your weapons!"

     "I already have, fool."

     "I'm no fool.  Drop _all_ your weapons."

     Niss sighed, annoyed.  "There's one in my hair, another in my right boot."

     Kel stared down at Niss's hair: and ornament held up a bun.  Kel moved the blade of her glaive to Niss' throat, and removed the ornament that turned out to be the mere hilt of a wickedly curved dagger.  "Jump?" she ventured.  Jump stuck his nose against Niss' right leg.  He stuffed his muzzle down her boot and pulled the dagger out with his teeth.

     "Watch it!"  Niss cried, twisting her leg away.  She cursed vehemently.  "He cut me!"

     Kel laughed.  "So sorry about that, Niss," she cooed.  "Lets go get you a bandage.  Would you like a pretty bandage?"

     "Stupid wench; that blade is poisoned."

     Now Kel understood why Niss seemed so distressed.  "Well, I guess that's your own fault.  Now.  Come peacefully and I might consider getting you healed."  Kel inched her blade away from Niss' throat invitingly. 

     "Fine."

     Kel let Niss go.  The assassin spun to face her.  She looked murderous.

     "We may have lost this battle, but Scanra will crush Tortall like an insect."

     "Now why would you want that, Niss.  _You _are Tortallan."

      Niss spat.  "Only on the outside."

     "_Why _do this, Niss?  What ties have you to Scanra?"

     "Scanra is the one true country.  Your king's father stole our lands.  We only take back what is ours, and we would have by now if it weren't for your _meddling_, Lady Knight.  You killed our mage Blayce the Gallan- now _you_ deserve to die!  You and your _friends."  _Niss swept a dagger from her left boot.  She screamed and threw herself and Kel.

     Kel's reflexes did not desert her.  Her glaive flew up and she smashed Niss to the side just in time.  Niss rolled and jumped up.  She radiated bloodlust.  Her eyes were wild.  Threads of hair stood on end.

     "No wonder I had never heard of Riveredge," Kel said coolly.  "You made it up."

     Niss scowled.  "Everything I told you was a lie.  You played right into our hands."

     Kel smiled back.  "Not that it's done you much good.  Perhaps if you had laid off the acting classes a bit, and focused on your fighting-"

     "Do you forget Owen and Seaver, _my lady._"

     Kel kept her face straight.  "No.  But before you get too triumphant," she said, "you might want to check out your friends back near the entrance.  You wouldn't be feeling so smart."

     "Oh no?"  Niss smiled.  "We seemed to fool your kingdom enough.  I made myself the obvious suspect whilst my friends had all the fun of ripping your friends-"

     "Enough!"  Kel shouted.  She poked her blade to Niss' throat.  Kel glared at her.

      Niss gulped and her eyes ventured past Kel's shoulder; they widened and then locked straight back onto Kel with a determination.  Kel frowned, and started to turn-

     "I kissed you!"  Niss cried.

     Kel went red and stared back at Niss.  "Was that apart of your acting too?"  She half smiled, "Or you just couldn't help yourself?"

     Niss smiled smugly.  "Dizziness, sore stomach, ear aches, _exhaustion_…" she said ominously.  "They're just some of the symptoms of my…kiss." 

     Something inside Kel's head clicked.  Her stomach sank.  _'No.  It couldn't be…'  _She had a memory flash.

_Niss was spinning the lid off a vial.  She took a shot of the contents…She pressed up against Kel, and kissed her…Then something like a sweet drink gushed from Niss's mouth to Kel's. _

"You!"  Kel said, horrified.  Her hands clamped around her glaive, and she took a step towards Niss.

     "Now Kataine_!"_  Niss cried.  Her eyes were looking past Kel.  

     Suddenly Kel felt Jump's jaw grip around her ankle, and he yanked her aside.  Something whistled past Kel's ear.  Kel stumbled and twisted around in the direction Niss had been facing…and she barely believed her eyes.

      It was Assa.  

     Assa, back from the dead!  Kel shook her head.  Obviously not…but her face looked so white, she could almost have been a ghost.  

     "Sorry, Ariashna!"  Assa said, lowering the crossbow she held.

     Kel turned back to Niss, who had a crossbow bolt through her heart. 

     "_Sorry!" _ Niss shrieked incredulously and collapsed.

     Kel turned back to Assa at the sound of the crossbow hitting the floor.  Jump ran at Assa, but she kicked skilfully at his ribs and sent the dog flying.  Kel winced. Assa swept twin swords from the scabbards on her back and ran at Kel.  Kel swung her glaive as soon as Assa was in range.  Assa evaded and swung at Kel's head.  Kel caught the blades with her shaft, grimacing as splinters slapped her forehead.  Those swords were _sharp._  Assa lunged; Kel blocked.  Assa kicked; Kel caught her foot with her shaft and sent Assa to the ground.  Kel bashed Assa's stomach with the butt of her glaive.  Assa deflated, and tripped Kel over before she could hit her again.  Kel landed on her back, all the air in her lungs went straight out.  Both women lurched up, wheezing, and traded a few more blows before backing off.  They circled one another.  Eyes intense, breaths ragged.  Kel swiped her glaive at the assassin, blade first.  She didn't care about making Assa a prisoner anymore.  Assa dodged past, her swords flashing.  Kel felt a sting across her upper arm.  Blood emerged.  Kel swore and prayed that that sword wasn't poisoned.

     "Ha!"  Assa said, beaming.  "Even if you kill me now, you'll still be dead by the end of the day!  These blades are tipped with the strongest-"

     "Kel!  Look out!"  That was Dom's voice.

     Kel obediently jumped sideways.  She spun to see Niss had been standing right behind her with a dagger in hand.

     For all that Yamani training, Kel couldn't hide the shock in her face.  Oh, but by the gods, she had had enough.  '_First Assa, now Niss,' _she thought.  

     "Why can't you just stay _dead_?" she yelled, and slit Niss' throat before the assassin had a chance to react.

     "Ariashna!"  Assa cried, instinctively taking a step towards her fallen comrade, then leapt back, away from Kel.  Assa glared at Kel with a ferociousness the knight had never encountered before.

     "YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT, TORTALLAN SCUM!"  Assa screamed at the top of her lungs.

     Kel stepped back as Assa stepped forward.  Assa raised her swords over her shoulders and swung them down _hard_.  Kel raised her glaive to meet it.  The swords cracked against the wooden shaft, the force making Kel's muscles buckle.  Assa raised her swords again.  So intense was she that she didn't even notice Dom until his sword sank into her side.  Assa's eyes widened.  Her jaw went slack.  Her face was the picture of horror.  Dom brought his dripping sword out of Assa, only to stab her again, and again.  Assa's swords clattered on the stone ground.  Her knees sagged and she dropped.  Dom took a step away, his eyes wide.

     Kel staggered back.  Slowly she looked up at Dom, who was perspiring like a steam pot.  Hair plastered itself against his forehead.  Kel watched him.  Finally he dragged his eyes away from the woman he had just killed, and slowly looked up to the woman he loved.

     "Kel," he gasped.

     Kel stepped before him.  "Sssh," she said.  She wrapt her arms around him and rested her head against him.  His chest quivered with every breath.  He enveloped her in his strong arms.  For a moment all the bad things in the world seemed to fade, and Kel felt nothing except for the body against her.

     "What in the Gods' names-!"  

     Kel and Dom sprang apart, surprised.  Neal marched into the room, staring at the two bodies.  "I'm assuming these are the people who said something about Tortallan Scum," he said dryly.  Yukimi and several men were right behind him.

     Kel suddenly remembered something.  "Jump," she said.

     "I'll take care of him," Yukimi said, walking over to the injured dog.

     "Kel, did they cut you?"  Neal asked, striding towards her.

     She looked down at her arm, and swayed.  "Yes," she said.  "Neal, I think I'm poisoned."

     "What?"  Dom choked.

     Neals' boots splashed in something as he reached Kel.  

     Dom, Kel and Neal all looked down to find blood pooling around their feet.  Quickly, they stepped out.

     After a brief shake of their boots, Neal gently took Kels' arm and brushed his fingers across the wound.  Then he pressed his fingers against it.  Kel ignored the sting.  Neal shut his eyes.  Kel watched his face as he sent magic into her.  First he frowned, then scowled, and finally his eyebrows rose into delicate arches.   He opened his eyes and gulped audibly.

     "Kel-" he began.

     "It's bad, isn't it?"  She interrupted.  

     "What is it?"  Dom demanded.  "Neal, you can cure her, right?"

     Neal looked at his cousin.  He shook his head, ever so slightly.  "No."

     "Then at least try!"

     "I have tried!"

     "Hey!"  Kel said, using her most authoritative voice.  "If there's nothing he can do, then there's nothing he can do." 

     "But Kel," Dom said, grabbing her shoulders and looking into her eyes, "what if you die?"

     Kel pulled away, curbing her emotions.  A high blood pressure wasn't going to do her any good.  She couldn't just let this tension hang in the air, either.  "I don't suppose anyone knows how Niss survived that bolt through her heart?" she said.

     "What bolt?"  Yukimi asked, walking towards them.

     Kel pointed at Niss.  "That-" she stopped, realising that there _was_ no bolt.  "What the…" she muttered to herself.  Forgetting the blood, Kel knelt down beside the body.  A hole was through the robes where the bolt had gone; but that had disappeared, as well as any trace of a wound.  Whatever Niss had used to heal herself, it must've been the same thing Assa had used, after Kel 'killed' her.  She told the others as much.

     Neal reminded her about the vial he had found in her room, the one that had contained the strong healing potion.  Getting excited, he said, "Maybe they have more around here.  They must!  I think we could cure you, Kel."

     Hope stirred inside Kel, but, remembering Assa saying that she wouldn't live through the day, tried not to get her hopes up.  She wanted to cry, more than anything.  

     Everyone that wasn't guarding their assassin prisoners helped search, even the sparrows.

     They found commissions, maps, weapons, and poisons: enough evidence to send these assassins to the executioner's block, but none of those healing potions were seen.  For Kel, hope began to dwindle.  She had started to vomit violently, plus she ran a fever and had the shakes.  The sun rose.

     Finally, Dom, tired, angry and exasperated, marched down to the assassin prisoners and demanded they tell him where those potions were.  They only laughed, cheered by the fact that Kel was dying.  He punched one out and asked again.  One assassin broke when Dom pressed his dagger against her throat and she told him.  He all but ran through the passage, crying, "It's behind the cabinet, it's behind cabinet!"

     Four men pulled the cabinet away from the wall.  There lay a little hole, in which several potions lay.  Neal opened one, stuck his finger in and tasted it.

     "This is it!" he shouted.  The men cheered.

     Neal knelt beside Kel, whose head rested on his wife's lap.  They sat her up.

     Kel looked as pale as sheets.  Sweat ran down her forehead.  She didn't acknowledge anything anyone said to her.

     "Here goes," Neal murmured to Yukimi.  People had crowded around to watch.  Neal poured some of the potion across Kel's wound.  It glowed.  People held their breaths.  Bit by bit, skin and flesh joint back together, until the whole wound had sealed, not even leaving a scar to tell the tale.  Neal poured the rest of it down her throat.  The recovery was faster than anyone could've expected.  Kels' cheeks turned rosy and her eyes blinked open.  She seemed dazed, but that was all right.  Yukimi helped her up.

     Kel, worn and dishevelled, glanced at the people staring at her.  She smiled weakly, but didn't seem up to forming words.

      Dom broke the silence.  "Only our Kel could be dragged through the Death Realms and back, and still smile about it."

     The men laughed, relieved, and patted Kel's back and gripped her shoulders.  Dom waited with something a bit more intimate for her.  Kel just about collapsed in his arms.

     As they dragged Assa and Niss' bodies out of the cave and onto the grass, Kel brought up the topic of the two assassins and how they both had seemingly come back from the dead.  "I just don't understand.  Both had their hearts pierced, even with that miracle cure, they should have died instantly."

     Dom agreed.  

     Neal, who had been walking behind them, said, "I think I might have an idea."  He touched Niss and sent his magic through her body.  After a minute he smiled and let go.  He did the same thing to Assa.  "Just what I suspected," he said.  "It's a rare and unusual 'disease', but it seemed to serve this lot quite well…for a while, at least."

     Dom cuffed Neal on the back of his head.  "Just tell us, Meathead."  

     Neal glared.  He took a long, deep breath for dramatic effect.  "Their hearts are on the wrong side." 

   Kel stared.  "What!"

     "Their hearts are on _the wrong side_.  Even though the blows you gave them- where their hearts should've been- were mortal, they still would have had enough strength to use the potion…"

       Kel eyed the corpses.  Niss' voice resounded in her head: _"I don't understand assassins," _she had said_.  "Perhaps they just do it for the rush…For the love of it.  But I don't see how killing could be someone's passion.  I guess...I guess their hearts are just on the wrong side."  _

The wrong side.

     Niss had basically spelt it out for her!  How she must've laughed.

     Kel shook her head at her own folly, and decided that it probably wasn't important enough to bother Dom and Neal about.  _'Probably not.'_

_Prologue. _

     The assassin prisoners had had their trials, and were executed- all of them.  Kel didn't feel any grief for them.  They deserved their lot.  Now she and Dom lay on a small grass hill, looking up into the clouds and holding hands.  Time was precious; Kel was due back at New Hope tomorrow.

     "That one looks like an apple," Kel told him.  "Or a pancake."

     Dom chuckled.  "Let's just say it's an omelette and be done with it."

     Kel grinned.  They turned their heads and gazed into each other's eyes.

     "Time goes by too fast when I'm with you," he said.

     "I'm not sure if we'll ever be destined to have a full day of peace and quiet," she said.

     They sighed in unison, thinking of the future.

     As usual, Kel thoughts drifted back to Niss and Assa.

     "You're thinking about them, aren't you?"  Dom said.

     "Don't you?"

     "All the time."

     "They had been friends," Kel murmured.

     "Hmm.  Do you remember those names they called each other?  Niss was Ari-something.  What was Assa?"

     "I can't remember.  It started with 'C' or something."

     They contemplated it for a moment, when suddenly something horrible dawned on Kel.  Realisation lit her face.

     "Those girls really did like to live life on the edge," she gasped.

     Dom chuckled  "Indeed.  You'd have to be half-mad to take on Tortall."

     "No- you don't understand, it's their names.  I can't believe I didn't realise!"  

     "Huh?"

     Kel propped herself up onto her elbow.  "I mean, think about it: Assa, Niss.  Niss, Assa.  What does that spell, backwards?"

     Dom thought for a second and then stared at Kel in disbelief.  "I don't believe!" he cried.  "I _do not _believe it!  Oh, by the _gods._"

     "Exactly!"  Kel cried, her palms open.  "Assa_ssin!"  _

     They were both gaping like fools.  Kel felt a little hysteria build up.  She began to laugh.  Dom looked at her as if she had turned green, until he, too, found the humour in it all, and laughed along with Kel.  Once they started, they couldn't stop.  

     And so that's how King Jonathon found the couple- crippled with mirth.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

_And That's The End of That Chapter._

**Were you shocked?  Were you surprised?  Did I at least make you eyebrows rise?**

**It's the end of the fic.  I'm quite happy about it.  Now I want You to write a review.**

**I hate it when I rhyme without meaning to.**

**Stitch: **Whoa, thanks for all those reviews!  Good guessing.     **Christelle: **I am blessed, indeed.  Thank you.  (But I have stopped now)     **Lady Sandrilene: **Never, ever could I kill Neal!  Awww.  Neal!     **Kalle:  **Yeah, I think I made Kel a bit too slow in this.  (I mean, *scoff* if all you guys had already figured it out then _surely _Kel…! lol, sorry.  I'll try make better jokes.)     **Valencia22: **  Bad writing?  I doubt it!  Thanks, hope you liked it.  **   Hayden's Super Hobbit:  **I hope it was a satisfying end!  Thanks for the review     **Ani:  **I can hardly write with all the homework…but I've gots it done, finally.  Thanks!     **Snow*flake:  **ahh, it's alright.  Wish I had more (reviews) of course, but I'm still happy.   Thank you for ALL the reviews.  Hope you're glad about the day you first gave this story a shot.  Now you can write heaps on your holiday, yay!     **StarFire:  **Ego-booster!  Lol, thanks.  Continue the search for K/D's with plots (there are quite a few of em)     **Lady Me:  **a-HA!  Now you know how I got the name "Niss."  Your reviews are cherished.  Thank you.

***_Did anyone realise about niss/assa spelling assassin?  If you did, thanks for not reviewing about it- I'd've been like "noooooo, now everyone knows! Delete DELETE"  There goes the prologue.  But whenever Assa's name came up, I tried not to have the word 'assassin' anywhere near it_**- **_I'd use 'murderer' or 'killer' or something.***_

**Write a review!**


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